Derek Carr, Jon Gruden argue on Raiders sideline

Look, no sane human being would think it’s fun to be playing for the Oakland Raiders right now. And sure, having a contract that pays a king’s ransom every Sunday is nice, but so is basic on-field competence.

The Raiders played the Arizona Cardinals in a battle of utter futility, and although the two teams played to a dead 14-14 tie — of course — in the first half, that wasn’t good enough for head coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Derek Carr. They had words as Carr came off the field, with both gesturing at each other.

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Things got tense on the sideline between head coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Derek Carr. The Raiders eventually prevailed Sunday for their second win of the season. (AP)

Gruden didn’t calm down, even after Carr moved to a separate spot on the sideline:

Per @townsendradio, Lee Smith "grabbed" Jon Gruden by the neck to calm him down as he got after Derek Carr in heated sideline exchange.

A later tweet clarified that tight end Lee Smith grabbed Gruden by the back of the neck; this wasn’t a Latrell Sprewell-PJ Carlesimo situation, but you could understand if it might one day come to that.

As it turned out, though, Oakland pulled out a 23-21 win, so maybe all is forgiven, right?

This is a lost season for the Raiders. But with both Carr and Gruden locked into huge long-term deals, the team has to be sure it doesn’t turn into a lost era.